Soothing
by eosdawnaurora
Summary: Tatsuki always knows when Orihime needs her. Prompt - soothing, hurt/comfort. For Springkink. Bleach belongs to Kubo Tite.


When it was all said and done, Orihime had one person she could collapse into; and she did collapse. Tatsuki was always there, warm and welcoming and strong, so strong.

***

She never asked for her to come, but Tatsuki knew, had all of Orihime's personal tics memorized.

Over the years Tatsuki began to realize she could weigh a nervous gesture or desperate glance and see a breakdown in progress for what it was. This time was no different, bearing down like a summer storm, the cause irrelevant: Orihime needed her.

Tatsuki knocked on the door to her little apartment in the aged-but-tidy public housing block. Her face ruddy and damp, she answered in her pajamas, a thick blanket around her shoulders.

"Tatsuki." Orihime's looked pleased to see her, but her eyes were holding a pained edge.

Pulling her around into the apartment, Tatsuki shut the door behind them. "You can't hide it from me, don't even try."

"I'm sorry," Orhihime said, simpering, which irritated Tatsuki. Yet she still managed to smile fondly, reaching up and patting her on the head.

"You should be. Let me go put some tea on and you can tell me what happened," Tatsuki said, starting in on the mental triage process required to get her friend back onto her moorings.

"Okay."

Orihime huddled down next to the low kitchen table, pulling her blanket tighter. It wasn't cold, but she was shivering.

While the water heated, Tatsuki went and fetched Orihime's hairbrush kneeling behind her and starting in on brushing down her tangled, stringy hair. "You were okay until the last hour at school. What happened?"

"Ah, I-I'm not sure," she said.

"Was it Ichigo?" Tatsuki accused.

She shook her head. "No, no. We didn't even talk much today," Orihime said vehemently but sad.

Tatsuki leaned forward, trying to catch Orihime's eyes. "Sorry, he's such a brainless clod most of the time – and don't defend him. I know him, he doesn't go out of his way to hurt people, but he does it just the same."

"It's not him. I was thinking about graduation."

"Oh. Let me get the tea." So this was probably about family, or Orihime's lack of one. All Tatsuki could do was stay, and try to stuff herself for a while into the painful empty space Sora had left behind.

Orihime played with her brush, running her fingers across the bristles. She was lost inside her mind again. Tatsuki filled the cups and put an extra dollop of honey into Orihime's. Carefully, she set the tea tray down on the corner of the table, where they huddled as if they were in the dark sharing the light of one candle.

"You aren't going to be alone. I'll be there. All of us will be there," Tatsuki said. Convincing her wasn't hard, it was keeping her convinced.

She nodded, looking down at her cup and putting the brush back over next to Tatsuki, suggesting she wanted her to work on her hair some more.

"Come on, drink a little. You finished your homework already?" She picked up the brush and started on the edges again, and when it was all untangled kept brushing in soft unhurried strokes. It was soothing for both of them, really.

"Yes." Orihime said, and sighed, contented, sipping at her tea.

"I'll stay over tonight, and I promise I'll stomp on anything in the shadows that's bothering you. Do you want to take a bath?"

"Not really. I'm too tired."

Tatsuki nodded, though she really wanted a bath for herself. "Let's go to bed then, when you're done with that. I'm sure you'll feel better in the morning."

Borrowing a pair of pajamas, Tatsuki helped Orihime lay out the futon, and they snuggled down together under the thick blankets. As she started to drift off, Orihime pressed her face down into her shoulder and hugged her as tightly as she could. Tatsuki wrapped her arms around her, and rubbed her back with one hand.

"Thank you for coming. I don't know what I'd do without you," she whispered.

"It'll be all right."

"Okay."

"Good night, Orihime," Tatsuki murmured.

"Good night. I love you."


End file.
